This thesis will examine the Exile Shoton Festival in Tibetan communities in northern India as a production of exile national identity. First I will review the ethnomusicological literature that has tackled issues of identity, exile, connection to the environment, the Shoton Festival and Ache Lhamo. Then I shall outline the history of the Shoton Festival and its production in exile. Following this I will examine a performance of Ache Lhamo at the 2015 Exile Shoton Festival in Mcleod Ganj, India where references to land, environment and 'place' contribute to the contestation, negotiation and transformation of exile national identity. This performance, which was put on by the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) was a new, yet old, story filled with references to the Tibetan refugee's host community. They performed 'Life of Buddha.' I completed the fieldwork for this project during a six-month stay in Mcleod Ganj during 2012 and another month long visit in 2015. Through this research, I would suggest, this festival is considered a 'nationalistic' performance, something that people do in order to feel connected to their national identity, something that people watch in order to support their national community, and a way to honor the Dalai Lama, their spiritual as well as former political leader. The performance space, with the new integration of Indian and Nepali references reflects, contributes to, and creates the new multi-cultural-ness of an exile national identity.
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